Biggest mine for 20 years opens in NT

The largest new mine in the Northern Territory for 20 years has been opened in the Roper Region.

The Roper Bar iron ore mine, about 600km southeast of Darwin in the NT's Gulf country, is expected to produce up to three million tonnes of iron ore per year for the next eight to 12 years, Chief Minister Adam Giles says.

The mine officially opened on Monday, and the first shipment of Roper Red will be exported through the Bing Bong port later this week.

Western Desert Resources, the owner of the Roper Bar mine, is now the Territory's largest independently owned company listed on the Australian Stock Exchange, with an estimated market value of about $350 million.

The company has spent $180 million on major infrastructure, including building a 165km road with ten new bridges to transport ore from the mine to Bing Bong Port.

The company expects to transport about 11,000 tonnes of ore along that route daily, delivering an annual turnover of up to $450 million.

Only 20 per cent of the whole area has been explored, and Western Desert Resources believes there could be up to two billion tonnes of ore in the province.